The Forgotten
by Anonymous Character
Summary: Scarlet, a strange girl with even stranger abilities, somehow finds herself as the savior of a member of the Flock - a.k.a. Fang. But when Itex finds out she's alive, will she discover who she really is? Or will she betray the Flock? HAITUS
1. Scarlet

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN MAXRIDE.**_

**_CLAIMER: I DO OWN SCARLET AND ANY UNFAMILIAR CHARACTERS._**

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_**1 – SCARLET**_

A sound woke me from my trance-like sleep. A noise, what was it...? There! It came again, louder, closer. Screaming? Yes, screaming, and something else... metal. Screeching machinery, extremely annoying to my sensitive ears. It was hurting me! I made the sound stop without thinking through my actions.

The screaming continued, though, and now I was curious. Suddenly I was there, watching as a girl no older than me shouted at an injured boy. She was telling him to get up, to wake up and be okay. He couldn't survive if he didn't get help, and soon, but the girl didn't pull out a cellphone to call an ambulance.

Then I saw it, at the same time the girl noticed me – wings. Just like mine, on both of them. There were others coming now, all children, all landing from the sky. They stared at me, all but one boy who must have been blind, but had his eyes turned toward me anyway. The girl was saying something, but I didn't hear her, as I was gliding towards the injured boy. He needed better help than paramedics, and I knew how to treat him.

_I am a friend. I can help, you know he needs it. No hospitals, I promise._

The girl was wide eyed, but she nodded. I smiled at her, offering a hand, which she took. Then I encompassed her and the five others, including the injured one, in my field, transporting us all back to my domain. The injured one was already on a bed, and the others were looking around in shock. The girl pulled her hand from mine as if I was suddenly poisonous.

"Where are we?"

I flinched at the sound of her voice, sharp and painful compared to my telekinesis. Just barely held in check was my instinct to make the sound stop. I knew I would be re-accustomed to speaking aloud soon enough, but at the moment it simply made me want to drown out all sound, make it all disappear.

"Somewhere safe," I replied, flinching again at even my whispered words. The girl noticed this, and cast me a curious glance before turning back to the boy.

"Don't worry, Fang, you're going to be okay," she told him in a voice so quiet that I doubted she thought anyone could hear her. He remained motionless, unconscious. But now I was worried... I could smell his blood, even standing as far away as I was.

"Where was he hit?" This time I managed not to flinch at the sound, instead focusing on helping the boy, Fang. The girl hesitated, too long, so I slit his shirt open before she answered.

"Hey – what are you doing!?" she shrieked, causing me to hiss in pain, covering my ears. Too loud for so long without hearing spoken word.

"Healing him," I stated as I examined the wound. In any other circumstance, the boy would never have survived, but luckily my gifts could fix the gash, and much more. His flesh was torn open from his shoulder, across his chest and stopping just above the waistline. In seconds it was no more than a scar, pink against olive skin, and a moment more completely gone, along with numerous other bruises and scars.

He opened his eyes, seeming confused, then saw the girl and the other children. I smiled, stepping back into the shadows before he noticed me. His friends crowded around him, amazed at his rapid recovery. The girl glanced around suspiciously, probably for me, before explaining the happenings to him.

Their voices were terribly resonating, and I dropped to the floor before I could stop myself, letting out a high-pitched keen that they shouldn't have been able to hear. In fact, only one of them turned his head, the blind one. Once again I was fighting the instinct to make the sounds go away. I didn't want to hurt them.

"Is she okay?" the blind one asked, and all heads turned in my directions, now silent. Slowly, ever so slowly, I uncovered my ears, relishing in the sudden calm. I stood.

"He should be better now," I whispered, then turned to the door, ready to leave them to themselves.

"Thank you, um..." the girl struggled, uncomfortable.

"Scarlet. It's no trouble, really. I have nothing better to do."

The mistrust on their faces made me sigh as I left the room. I stopped as I heard one of them following me. It was one of the girls, a very young child.

_I'm not that young, I'm six._

She could speak with her mind, as I could. For this I was grateful.

_Why do our voices hurt?_ she asked, still not speaking aloud.

_I've gone a very long time without hearing people. My ears need to adjust. It doesn't help that they're so sensitive, either._

She nodded, her expression thoughtful. There was nothing from her for a moment. Then,

_Are you like us?_

I blinked, nodding slowly. She meant the wings. And probably the origin as well. Then I smiled.

_Who are you? Six children in the middle of nowhere, it isn't fair._

She gave me a bitter little smile, as if to say, 'Life's not fair.'

_My name's Angel. The boy who was hurt is Fang, and the older girl is Max. The blind one is Iggy, then Gazzy, and the other girl is Nudge. What did you say your name was again?_

_Call me Scar. _

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**AN: THE LITTLE BLUE/PURPLE BUTTON IS JUST BEGGING FOR ATTENTION!**


	2. Headquarters

_****_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAXRIDE.

CLAIMER: I DO OWN SCARLET AND ANY UNFAMILIAR CHARACTERS

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2 – HEADQUARTERS

I couldn't help it, I listened in on their conversation. No, really, I couldn't help it. To me it was like they were shouting at me, even with their whispering. It wasn't my fault that I was created with too-sensitive hearing.

The older girl, Max, seemed as much a leader as any of the others. They kept asking her if they were staying here, in this place. They had yet to give my home a name, and I only called it HQ. It was the center of operations for the various jobs that my associates and I led. Speaking of associates....

I realized that Warren, my personal plainclothes cop, was scheduled to meet me. He was probably on his way already. Sure enough, a moment later the deafening sound of his off-road Jeep reached my ears, coming from a mile or two away. Luckily, Warren had the courtesy to ditch the machine before coming to the door.

_Knock, knock! Anybody home? SCARLET!_

I sighed at his rudeness. He was drunk, again. Warren was a good actor, it was just that I wished he wouldn't take his job _too_ seriously. As in, no more alcohol. By the time I reached the entrance, having no wish to tire myself with teleportation, he was banging his fist against the side of the mountain. I pulled it open as he swung again, causing him to stumble to the floor.

"Nice to see you too," I muttered as Warren grumbled streams of expletives.

"So you're talking to me again? Well don't I feel special," he slurred. I sighed again, then slapped him across the face, hard enough to draw blood.

"YOUCH! Ugh... I needed that. Thanks."

Warren didn't really like alcohol either, but he did what was necessary to finish a job.

"Sober?"

He nodded.

"Why are you speaking again? Did you finally collapse from reading my mind so much?"

I let loose an almost inaudible growl, warning him from making me angry.

"If I _had,_" I hissed, "Then you would be _dead,_ so let's hope it doesn't come to that, shall we? I have guests."

Warren barely concealed his surprise, his eyes widening slightly and his mouth loosening a bit.

"Wha- _here?_ Are they, I mean... are they runaways?"

It took me a moment to translate the gaze he fixed me with. Was that... concern? Idiot should know I can take care of myself. After all, I could kill _him_ with less than a thought. I think he saw my reverie on my face, because his eyes immediately went blank with indifference. But the concern was still there, I could _taste_ it.

"Well? What are we going to do?" he asked, his voice quieter than before. I cocked my brow in amusement. Did he honestly think I was going to let him _meet_ them?

"_You_, my friend, are going to spill the information I sent you for. Then _you_ are going to get _your_ sorry butt out of _my_ domain so _I _can deal with my guests, I told him, leaving no room for arguments. He looked stunned.

"Wait, you don't even want my help?"

"No. What have got from Itex?"

There was a gasp behind me, from the little dark-skinned girl, Nudge. I had heard her coming this way, but I was so caught up in the conversation that the information hadn't registered. I could feel Warren's gaze slipping off of me and to the girl.

"Is she...?"

I nodded, stepping into his line of sight. The less he knew, the better, ust in case he got caught.

"Answer me, Warren. What did you get?"

Warren shook his as if to clear it.

"They're starting to get suspicious. The Avian-Human hybrids have gone off the radar again, and last time they were seen, they somehow managed to take out about a thousand L-generation soldiers. These experiments are amazing, Scar."

I stiffened about halfway through Warren's speech. I had been hearing about the Avian hybrids for a while, and then the soldiers going down.... They hadn't taken them out, I had. I had found the missing subjects.... I smiled.

"Yes, yes they are.... Dismissed."

"But-"

"_Leave_ Warren. I'm not a kitten, I can handle myself without you."

Warren cast me a nervous glance, but then did as I ordered. I closed the entrance behind him, then turned to address the bird-child. She was staring at me in shock, and what could be taken as fear.

"Are you... you wont... You're not gonna turn us in, are you?" she stammered, eyes wide. I gave her a faint smile and shook my head.

"Why would I do that? We have a common enemy – that makes us friends."

This seemed to appease her, as she visibly relaxed.

"So... where are we?"

I bit back a chuckle at the girl's obvious enthusiasm.

"We are inside the Colorado mountains. Or, as I like to call it, the Headquarters."

"Headquarters for what?" she asked eagerly. Now I did laugh.

"Everything that is against Itex," I told her.

"Really? Oh my gosh, I have to tell Max. She's gonna have a heart attack! Wait, I actually shouldn't tell her, cuz if Max has a heart attack then Fang will have to be the leader, and he's really tired right now. Plus everybody would really miss Max, cuz she's like our sister and our mom all mixed in one, and she's all our best friend."

My eyes looked like a deer's by the time she paused for a breath. How could one person hold so many coherent thoughts all at once? And be able to voice them all at once? And why was it so _loud and annoying?!_

"I think we should go check on your friend," I quietly suggested. Nudge immediately stopped talking and nodded. I tried to convince myself that controlling someone for a few minutes for their own good was not wrong, but it didn't work very well. At least I tried....

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**_AN - READ AND REVIEW, FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY!_**

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FREDDY - Ummm... where am I?

GEORGINA JR. - In Burn's mind, duh. Haven't you noticed all the _other_ invisible flying platydiles?

FREDDY - O.O

GIR - IT'S A MUFFIN ON A STIIIIIIICK!!!!!!!!!! *runs around holding muffin on a stick*

FREDDY & GEORGINA JR. - WHAAAAAAAAT?


	3. Connections

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAXRIDE.**_

**_CLAIMER: I DO OW SCAR_****_LET AND ANY OTHER UNFAMILIAR CHARACTERS._**

_**3 – CONNECTIONS**_

I had to let go of Nudge when we entered the room her friends were gathered in, or else the little telepathic girl would tell the leader. As soon as I did, she started rattling off everything she had overheard. I made no move to stop her, having no reason to keep it from the older ones.

The little one, Angel, stared at me, no doubt already knowing what Nudge was saying, and the reasons behind it. She didn't take her eyes off me the entire time that Nudge was talking, making me rather nervous about the way the others would handle the news.

I looked around the room at her friends, noting there were only five. I was curious as to where the injured boy had disappeared to, but I kept my mouth shut. This wasn't the time for questions on my part, and I wouldn't be heard over the motormouth girl anyway.

"...and then he said that Itex is looking for us and she made him leave," Nudge finished, taking a deep breath. I bit back a giggle at the look on their faces. It was priceless! But I kept my expression carefully neutral, waiting for their real reactions.

For a moment they just stared at me, and I raised an eyebrow as an invitation to speak. Finally Max opened her mouth.

"Who are you?"

I sighed. Hadn't we gone over this?

"I told you, my name is Scarlet."

"I get your name, but I asked _who_ you are."

This made me pause, wondering how to explain.

"It's... complicated," I finally said. She snorted.

"Yeah, like we haven't heard _that_ one before," she snapped. I frowned.

"Very well. I am 93b12y5, commonly referred to as Subject 1, the first Avian-Human Hybrid. I was raised as a lab rat until I was four, when I mysteriously escaped without any help, consequently killing twenty-three scientists and destroying a five-square-mile laboratory within the span of three minutes. I found this place soon after and have been conducting infiltrate-and-incapacitate missions for the past eleven years. Believe me, Maximum Ride, if I was anything but your ally you and your family would be dead now."

My little outburst was met by shocked silence, which soon became deafening. For a second I think everyone in the room stopped breathing. Then Max stood shakily, looking angry at herself for showing weakness.

"Unless this is some kind of a game that Itex is playing with us. How do we know we can trust you?" she asked in a deadly quiet voice. My cold expression softened a little, betraying my empathy. I was not a sympathetic person, but I understood what she felt.

"I doubt you can trust anyone in this day and age. Especially not me. But you are all welcome to stay here as long as you need," I whispered in return, offering the only comfort I was capable of, which was admittedly not much. It seemed to help anyway, though. Especially when I backed away to leave them.

"Thank you."

I nodded, keeping my sorrowful expression off my face until I was out of their sight. No one should be thanking me, I kept telling myself. I'm dangerous, I kill without thought. I couldn't convince myself that I was evil, because I knew I was no different than a shark or a lion. My killing was instinctual. That didn't ease my heart, though, if anything making it worse. It meant that I was no better than an animal.

My door swung open with a barely audible _snick _after the laser scanned my retinas. As I closed it, I heard a sound. Well, a different sound than all the others that were echoing throughout the compound, this one right behind me. I froze. Someone else was here, in my room.

It hadn't escaped my attention that not all of the avians were in the room when I had entered. So I had a pretty good guess as to who had bypassed my security. Turning around as quietly as possible, which is absolutely silent for me, I stepped towards the curtain dividing my room in half and pulled it open. He was looking at a picture, taken when I was one, of me and my... brother.

"How did you get in here?"

Fang jumped, facing me in stunned silence. I doubted he was used to people sneaking up on him. He didn't say anything, and I sighed. Then I was right in front of him, reaching into his mind for a grip.

"I said, how did you get in here?" I breathed, projecting my words directly into his thoughts. He blinked, the fear tainting his mind not registering on his face.

"The door just opened when I pressed on it," he snapped. I knew he was telling the truth, or at least what he knew of it. I saw in his thoughts that the scanner had accepted his laser image hidden in his retinas. I released him, stepping up to a wall and pressing my hand against it. The paneling slid away to reveal over two dozen monitors, some displaying different sections of the compound, others just a never ending mass of computer code.

I keyed in the access code for the scanner, and two different images appeared, one me, the other Fang. Then two strands of D.N.A. flew across the screen, the results of both our scans. They were almost exactly the same, save for the gene that made him male and me female. I almost choked on air, I was so confused.

"What the...?"

My gaze snapped back to Fang, analytical and calculating. I had disappeared in the shield of the scientist.

"What do you see here?" I asked, hoping that my vision had simply malfunctioned. No such luck.

"D.N.A. Is it from you?"

I shook my head, frowning.

"It's from both of us. Yours is the one on the left."

Fang took another look at the images, then back at me, wide-eyed.

"You mean..."

"We're related."

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_**AN - READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! MUFFIN ON A STIIIIIIIIIICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_**FREDDY -** Finally.... caught him. *pant, pant*

**

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**

**GEORGINA JR. -** Good, now-

**GIR -** I'm gonna roll around on the floor now, okay? *trips Freddy while spinning on floor*

**FREDDY - **YOUCH! Why'd ya do that?! *stumbles around*

**GEORGINA JR. - **Freddy watch out for the-

**FREDDY - **AHHHHHHHH!!!!

**GEORGINA JR. - **hole. Oh, _ouch_. Hey idiot, you know you could have just flown before -

**FREDDY -** Don't speak to me.

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	4. Impossibities

_**DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN MAXRIDE.**_

**_CLAIMER - I DO OWN SCARLET AND ANY OTHER UNFAMILIAR CHARACTERS._**

_**4 – IMPOSSIBILITIES**_

_We're related_. My own words echoed in my head, making me dizzy and lightheaded. It was impossible, all my relations were dead or... worse. But here it was in front of me, the proof of an impossibility. And all I could do was stand there, looking at him. Who _was_ he?

"You're kidding. This is some practical joke, right? If it is, you're a dead girl." Fang's words were meant to be intimidating, but I barely heard him. I was trying to get over the shock. The D.N.A. said that we were... twins. Fang was my... brother. My mind knew it, but my heart refused to believe that he was _alive_.

You see, my brother died prior to my escape. Or, that was what I was told. It had never been proven, but I figured that even if he wasn't dead when I left, then he most definitely would have been by now, eleven years later, spent with the Organization. He couldn't be _alive_.

_FLASHBACK – _

"NO!! I'LL KILL THEM!!"

I was sobbing, my cold mask of indifference shattered like glass, painful and sharp. They _murdered_ him, they stuck him with those stupid needles until he was _dead!_ As I screamed, the room started to disintegrate around me. Stainless steel melted, ceramic exploded, the scientists all gripped their bleeding ears, spontaneously combusted. No one escaped the room alive.

These, these _monsters_ killed my brother, and they would suffer for it. Within seconds the entirety of this wing was lifeless, a minute and the whole building was a dead zone. I could see the sky through the growing skeleton of the walls, and I flew up, up, and up until I couldn't see it any more. I could smell the havoc I'd caused, though, and I knew the place was burning to the ground, leaving only a black ash mark to betray its former presence. And I reveled in the knowledge that my nightmares were now without foundation.

They would never find me, never hurt me again. I wouldn't stop until every one of those _demons_ was nothing but a memory, until the Organization was in ruins. I could do it, I knew that without a doubt, and it would happen. But first, I had to find a way to survive long enough to see it. I needed refuge. And then they would pay.

_END _

I was too caught up in the memories to really see Fang's face, but from the sudden sharp intake of breath, I assumed that my shields had gone down, and he had seen the images, the thoughts, the murderer that was me. It almost made me laugh to realize that I _scared_ him. I always was the fearless one, if he was the emotionless side.

But now I needed to think without being interrupted. Silently I handed Fang a keycard, the spare that was always in my room, and glided to the compound door. I would clear my head while in the air, and then I could figure out what was going on. I wouldn't let them hurt me again, not and let them live, anyway. My mask was still fragile, and I couldn't risk it breaking again, not for a lie, not for a fake. I'd rather die than go through that again.

**FANG**

What just happened? I was used to Angel sending thoughts into my head, but this... this went beyond a telepathic conversation. This wasn't intended, and it was powerful, much more so than anything I'd ever experienced before. They were memories, I think, but the intensity of the emotions was enough to throw me into a panic.

She killed so many people, because she was _grieving,_ and it was because she thought her brother... me, I guess, was dead. How could she live with so many deaths on her shoulders? But I knew the answer to that one – she was doing what she had to do, if for a different reason than Max of any of the others in the Flock. She went crazy for awhile, while we just tried to survive.

These thoughts flew through my head at the speed of light as I returned to the one but Max seemed to realize that my mind was far away from this room, rewinding to what I knew about myself. Of course, Max couldn't know that part, but she looked concerned. I raised my eyebrow, my sign for, Can I help you? She shook her head infinitesimally, then cast a purposeful glance at the others. Translated, Ditch them and spill.

"Hey Ig, you're in charge. Fang and I are going to scope this place out," she said aloud, not waiting for a response before leaving the room. I quickly followed her, leading her to another section of the building before leaning against a wall and waiting.

"Well?"

"What happened? Did you find something suspicious?"

"Not particularly. I found something interesting, though."

"What?"

I paused, wondering how to explain my discovery. I decided it would be best to show her the scans.

"Follow me, it's in her room."

The scanner let me in, and the screens were just as I'd left them. I moved to let Max see them.

"I don't get it? What am I looking for?"

I sighed.

"This is Scarlet's D.N.A.," I said, pointing to one, "and this is mine. We're twins. I... saw her mind. This is legit."

Max's jaw was on the floor by now, then she snapped it shut and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean, you 'saw her mind?'" she asked. I shrugged.

"It was like Angel putting things in my head, but not voluntary. She didn't mean for me to see her thoughts."

"What exactly did you see?"

The big question.

"Well... I think I saw what she was talking about when she said she destroyed a laboratory. It was confusing, but the gist of it was basically this. Someone told her her brother was dead, she got _extremely_ pissed, and the next thing you know, _poof,_ the entire compound is nothing but ashes, including everyone in it. But they were dead before the building burned down. She killed them all _painfully._" My voice was nothing but a whisper as I uttered that last sentence. Max seemed to have been similarly shocked.

"What... what do we do?" she asked. I looked her in the eye for a second, searching for _anything_, then shrugged.

"The only thing we really can do, I guess. We wait and see.

* * *

GIR - *BEATS FREDDY WITH MUFFIN ON A STICK*

FREDDY - WHY MEEEEEEE?!!!!!!!

GEORGINA JR. - BECAUSE YOU WERE THE FIRST! *HOLD AX MENACINGLY ABOVE HEAD*

HANNIBAL - HEY, GUYS I- WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO FREDDY?!!!!!!!!!

GEORGINA JR. - UMMMM.... *HIDES AX BEHIND BACK* GO TO BED! dO YOUR HOMWORK! GO TALK TO BOB!

FREDDY - HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BURN - .....? KITTY KATTS KANT FLY. YES.

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End file.
